The first Climate Change and Public Health speaker series talk will be May 9 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
It’s at the Park City Hospital Blair Education Center. The theme is environmental health.
Summit County Health Department Director Phil Bondurant said the event on May 9 is a trial run before finalizing the other discussions.
“Kind of get a sense of what the community was feeling and how it was going and then from there, work to establish the coming dates,” he said.
There could be up to three discussions in this series. Bondurant said the second event would cover physical and mental health and climate change, and the third would be a call to action—how to get involved to improve things locally.
He said the series was prompted by the World Health Organization's October 2021 announcement that climate change was the biggest public health threat to humanity.
The gravity of the announcement resonated with Bondurant, whose background is in environmental health, because of just how bad COVID-19 was at that time in 2021.
“It really struck a chord with me here locally, and really understanding what that means for people and our health outcomes in Summit County,” he said.
The speakers on May 9 include Darcy Glenn, a researcher at Woodwell Climate Research Center; Matt Yost, a professor of plants, soils and climate at Utah State University; Brian McInerney, a retired senior hydrologist for the National Weather Service; and Ben Abbott, a professor of ecosystem ecology at Brigham Young University.
The talk will take the form of a panel discussion moderated by Summit County Health Department Associate Director Dorothy Adams.
Bondurant said he hopes a local high schooler, to be announced, can co-host the event too.
“I have a keen interest in environmental health issues, but I also am engaged or interested in how our youth are perceiving these items or these topics," he said.
There are 75 spots available. Attendees need to RSVP through Eventbrite. Click here for the full schedule and registration information.
